Bert Kaempfert
Encyclopedia
Bert Kaempfert was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

 leader and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

. He made easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...

 and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

-oriented records, and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, such as "Strangers in the Night
Strangers in the Night
"Strangers in the Night" is a popular song composed by Bert Kaempfert with English lyrics by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder. It was originally created under the title Beddy Bye as part of the instrumental score for the movie A Man Could Get Killed...

" and "Spanish Eyes
Moon Over Naples
"Moon Over Naples" is a 1965 instrumental composed and originally performed by German bandleader Bert Kaempfert and was the first track on his album, The Magic Music of Far Away Places for Decca Records....

".

Biography

He was born in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 - where he received his lifelong nickname, Fips - and studied at the School of Music there. A multi-instrumentalist, he was hired by Hans Busch
Hans Busch
Hans Konrad Busch was a highly decorated Major in the Wehrmacht during World War II and an Oberstleutnant in the Bundeswehr. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful...

 to play with his orchestra before serving as a bandsman in the German Navy
German Navy
The German Navy is the navy of Germany and is part of the unified Bundeswehr .The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the revolutionary era of 1848 – 52 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy...

 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. He later formed his own big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

, toured with them, then worked as an arranger
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...

 and producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

, making hit records with Freddy Quinn
Freddy Quinn
Freddy Quinn is an Austrian singer and actor whose popularity within the German-speaking world soared in the late 1950s and 1960s. Similar to Hans Albers two generations before him, Quinn adopted the persona of the rootless wanderer who goes to sea but longs for a home, family and friends...

 and Ivo Robić
Ivo Robic
Ivo Robić was Croatian singer and songwriter.-Domestic career:Robić began his career as a soloist with the Radio Zagreb Orchestra, while studying at the same time in Zagreb...

. In 1961, he hired The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 to back Tony Sheridan
Tony Sheridan
Tony Sheridan , is an English rock and roll singer-songwriter and guitarist...

 for an album called My Bonnie
My Bonnie
My Bonnie is the name of a 1961 single, a 1962 album and a 1963 EP by Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers, better known as The Beatles.-History:...

. The album and its singles, released by Polydor, were the Beatles' first commercially released recordings.

Kaempfert's own first hit with his orchestra had been in 1960, with "Wonderland by Night
Wonderland by Night
"Wonderland by Night" is a popular song by Bert Kaempfert that was a Billboard number one hit for three weeks, starting January 9, 1961. It was Kaempfert's first hit with his orchestra. Another cover, recorded and released by Louis Prima, also charted in the same year, reaching #15 on the...

." Many of his tunes became better known as hits for other artists:
  • "Strangers in the Night
    Strangers in the Night
    "Strangers in the Night" is a popular song composed by Bert Kaempfert with English lyrics by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder. It was originally created under the title Beddy Bye as part of the instrumental score for the movie A Man Could Get Killed...

    " (with words by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder
    Eddie Snyder
    Edward Abraham Snyder was an American composer and songwriter. Snyder is credited with co-writing the English language lyrics and music for Frank Sinatra's 1966 hit, "Strangers in the Night"....

    , was originally recorded as part of his score for the 1965 film A Man Could Get Killed
    A Man Could Get Killed
    A Man Could Get Killed is a 1966 adventure comedy film directed Ronald Neame and Cliff Owen, shot on various locations in Portugal and starring James Garner, Melina Mercouri, Sandra Dee, Anthony Franciosa, and Robert Coote, as well as the fourteen year old Jenny Agutter in a minor role. The...

    . It became a #1 hit for Frank Sinatra
    Frank Sinatra
    Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

     in 1966.
  • "Wooden Heart
    Wooden Heart
    "Wooden Heart " is a song best known for its use in the 1960 Elvis Presley film G.I. Blues. The song was a hit for Presley in the United Kingdom, making number one for six weeks, but wasn't released as a single in the United States until November 1964 as the B-side to "Blue Christmas"...

    ", sung by Elvis Presley
    Elvis Presley
    Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

     in the film GI Blues was a hit in 1961. A cover of "Wooden Heart
    Wooden Heart
    "Wooden Heart " is a song best known for its use in the 1960 Elvis Presley film G.I. Blues. The song was a hit for Presley in the United Kingdom, making number one for six weeks, but wasn't released as a single in the United States until November 1964 as the B-side to "Blue Christmas"...

    " performed by Joe Dowell
    Joe Dowell
    Joe Dowell is an American pop singer.-Career:He was born in Bloomington, Indiana, but moved to Bloomington, Illinois, as a child. He first performed at a ninth-grade talent show, and later attended the University of Illinois...

     became a big hit in the summer of 1961, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, on August 28 of that year. Bert arranged this traditional German folk song for the Presley movie.
  • His instrumental "Moon Over Naples
    Moon Over Naples
    "Moon Over Naples" is a 1965 instrumental composed and originally performed by German bandleader Bert Kaempfert and was the first track on his album, The Magic Music of Far Away Places for Decca Records....

    ," when given words by Snyder, became Spanish Eyes, originally a hit for Al Martino
    Al Martino
    Al Martino was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid 1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop crooners", and also became well known as an actor, particularly for his role as singer Johnny Fontane in The...

     and also recorded by Engelbert Humperdinck
    Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)
    Engelbert Humperdinck is a British pop singer, best known for his hits including "Release Me " and "After the Lovin'" as well as "The Last Waltz" .-Early life:...

    , Presley, and many others.
  • "Danke Schoen
    Danke Schoen
    "Danke Schoen" is a 1962 song first recorded by Bert Kaempfert; however, it gained its fame in 1963 when American singer Wayne Newton recorded his version of it. The music was composed by Bert Kaempfert, with the lyrics written by Kurt Schwaback and Milt Gabler....

    ", with words added by Kurt Schwabach and Milt Gabler
    Milt Gabler
    Milton Gabler was an American record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century.-Early life:...

    , became Wayne Newton
    Wayne Newton
    Wayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...

    's signature song.
  • "L-O-V-E
    L-O-V-E
    "L-O-V-E" is a jazz song written by Bert Kaempfert and Milt Gabler for American singer-pianist Nat King Cole's 1965 album L-O-V-E...

    ," with words added by Milt Gabler, was a hit for Nat King Cole
    Nat King Cole
    Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...

  • "Almost There," Andy Williams
    Andy Williams
    Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...

  • His 90 Minuten nach Mitternacht (Terror After Midnight) movie theme, with lyrics added by Herb Rehbein and Joe Seneca, became a pop ballad called "Love After Midnight
    Love After Midnight
    Love After Midnight was a 1964 LP album by Patti Page, released by Columbia Records as catalog numbers CL 2132 and CS 8932 ....

    ," recorded by both Patti Page
    Patti Page
    Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...

     (1964) and Jack Jones
    Jack Jones (singer)
    John Allan "Jack" Jones is an American jazz and pop singer. He was one of the most popular vocalists of the 1960s.-Overview:...

     (1966).
  • "Tenderly
    Tenderly
    "Tenderly" is a popular song published in 1946 with music by Walter Gross and lyrics by Jack Lawrence.Copyright 1946 by Edwin H. Morris & Company, Inc....

    ," "Three O'Clock in the Morning
    Three O'Clock in the Morning
    "Three O’clock in the Morning" is a popular good-night waltz.The lyrics were written by Theodora Morse to music written by Julian Robledo. The song was recorded in 1922 by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra...

    ," "Red Roses for a Blue Lady
    Red Roses for a Blue Lady
    "Red Roses for a Blue Lady" is a 1948 popular song by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett . It has been recorded by a number of performers. The best-selling recording was made by Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra Vocalists: Vaughn Monroe and The Moon Men on December 15, 1948...

    " and other American standards which Bert recorded, were covered frequently by other easy-listening or middle-of-the-road performers.
  • A jazzier number called "A Swingin' Safari
    A Swingin' Safari
    A Swingin' Safari is an instrumental composed by Bert Kaempfert in 1962. It was recorded by Kaempfert on Polydor Records and released in the United States on Decca Records. It was also recorded by Billy Vaughn whose version became a bigger hit in the U.S. where it reached #13 on the Billboard...

    " was the initial theme tune for the long-running TV game show
    Game show
    A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...

    , The Match Game used on the NBC
    NBC
    The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

     version from 1962-67. "A Swingin' Safari
    A Swingin' Safari
    A Swingin' Safari is an instrumental composed by Bert Kaempfert in 1962. It was recorded by Kaempfert on Polydor Records and released in the United States on Decca Records. It was also recorded by Billy Vaughn whose version became a bigger hit in the U.S. where it reached #13 on the Billboard...

    " also hit the Billboard
    Billboard (magazine)
    Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

    charts by Billy Vaughn
    Billy Vaughn
    Richard "Billy" Vaughn was an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, orchestra leader, and A&R man for Dot Records....

    , the single release peaking at #13 in the summer of 1962. Another 1962 single, "That Happy Feeling
    That Happy Feeling
    "That Happy Feeling" was an instrumental pop music single recorded by Bert Kaempfert on March 16, 1962 and featured as the second cut on his album A Swingin' Safari. That song and the title track were among the first pop instrumentals to incorporate elements of South African music...

    ," became well-known as background music for children's television programming, most notably that of Sandy Becker
    Sandy Becker
    George Sanford Becker , who was known professionally as Sandy Becker, was a television announcer, actor, and comedian who hosted several popular children's programs in New York City...

     on his daily WNEW-TV (now WNYW
    WNYW
    WNYW, virtual channel 5 , is the flagship television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. The station's transmitter is atop the Empire State Building and its studio facilities are located in the Yorkville section of Manhattan...

    ) show in New York between 1963 and 1967.
  • The LP entitled "A Swingin' Safari" was heavily influenced by South African "kwela" style music, containing versions of "Zambesi," "Wimoweh
    The Lion Sleeps Tonight
    "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", also known as "Wimoweh" and originally as "Mbube", is a song recorded by Solomon Linda and his group The Evening Birds for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. It was covered internationally by many 1950s pop and folk revival artists, including The Weavers,...

    ," "Skokiaan," and "Afrikaan Beat," as well as the title track, which made Kaempfert an early exponent of world music.
  • "Tahitian Sunset" was sampled extensively by the lo-fi dance artists Lemon Jelly
    Lemon Jelly
    Lemon Jelly is a British electronic music duo from London, formed in 1998. Since their inception, the band's line-up has included Fred Deakin and Nick Franglen. Lemon Jelly has been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and BRIT Awards....

     as their track In the Bath.
  • The instrumental "That Happy Feeling" became a well-known theme song for one of the New York City children's shows, hosted in the early 1960s, by Sandy Becker
    Sandy Becker
    George Sanford Becker , who was known professionally as Sandy Becker, was a television announcer, actor, and comedian who hosted several popular children's programs in New York City...

    .


Kaempfert's orchestra made extensive use of horns. A couple of numbers that featured brass prominently, "Magic Trumpet" and "The Mexican Shuffle," were played by both Kaempfert's orchestra and by the Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
Herb Alpert
Herbert "Herb" Alpert is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. He is also a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records...

, whose initially Mariachi
Mariachi
Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...

 style, in fact, evolved towards the Kaempfert style as the 1960s progressed. The Brass covered Magic Trumpet, and Kaempfert returned the favor by covering Brass compadre Sol Lake's number, The Mexican Shuffle. The latter tune evolved into a TV ad, The Teaberry
Clark's Teaberry
Clark's Teaberry is a brand of chewing gum. It was developed by the D. L. Clark Company and is currently a product of Clark Gum Company in Buffalo, New York and made in Mexico. The gum dates to 1900. It was featured in some of author Dean Davis' mystery novels....

 Shuffle
.

Many of his hits during this period were composed and arranged with the help of fellow German Herb Rehbein, who became a successful bandleader in his own right. Rehbein's death in 1979 shook Kaempfert deeply. Both Kaempfert and Rehbein were posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...

.

In 1963 jazz trumpeter Bobby Hackett
Bobby Hackett
Robert Leo "Bobby" Hackett was an US jazz musician who played trumpet, cornet and guitar with the bands of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman in the late thirties and early forties.-Biography:...

 recorded a complete album with 12 Kaempfert compositions, Bobby Hackett Plays The Music Of Bert Kaempfert. It has now been re-released in the United States under the Sony Records label in the Collectable Jazz Classics series, along with the album Bobby Hackett Plays The Music Of Henry Mancini on a “2 in 1” CD.

In 1967 jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain
Pete Fountain
Pete Fountain , is an American clarinetist based in New Orleans. He has played jazz, Dixieland and Creole music.-Early life and education:...

 recorded the album Pete Fountain Plays Bert Kaempfert in Hamburg, Germany with musicians from Kaempfert’s orchestra. It featured Kaempfert’s signature hits.

In 1967 the Anita Kerr Singers released the LP Bert Kaempfert Turns Us On!, a tribute to Kaempfert featuring the standard hits.

In 1968 jazz trumpeter Al Hirt
Al Hirt
Al Hirt was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million selling recordings of "Java", and the accompanying album, Honey in the Horn . His nicknames included 'Jumbo' and 'The Round Mound of Sound'...

 recorded the album Al Hirt Plays Bert Kaempfert. It, too, featured Kaempfert’s major hits.

In 1970 Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...

 issued a double-LP album set, Sings the Music of Bacharach & Kaempfert, for Columbia. It consisted of a total 21 tracks in a heavyweight gatefold picture sleeve. The Kaempfert tracks were done in his arrangement style, and the Bacharach
Bacharach
Bacharach is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Rhein-Nahe, whose seat is in Bingen am Rhein, although that town is not within its bounds....

 tracks were done in the American’s unique upbeat style.

By the 1970s, sales of Kaempfert's music had dropped off somewhat, but he continued to record (his version of the Theme from Shaft was admired by Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...

 himself) and remained popular with audiences. He expanded the musical scope of his band and recorded in a wide variety of styles. He also began to play live concerts with his orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

, beginning in 1974, with a successful appearance at London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

's Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....

. A cigarette smoker (as illustrated on the posthumous Best of CD), he died suddenly, at the age of 56, following a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

 at his home on Majorca, shortly after a successful appearance in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

Kaempfert used many musicians who were available in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and other parts of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, including many of the same players who played for James Last
James Last
James Last is a German composer and big band leader. His "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom. His composition, "Happy Heart", became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark...

, Kai Warner
Kai Warner
Kai Warner was the stage name of Werner Last , a German bandleader and musician. He is the brother of of James Last and Robert Last...

 and Roberto Delgado
Horst Wende
Horst Wende was a German bandleader, arranger and composer. He made easy-listening records under his own name as well as under the name Roberto Delgado...

. He featured such top soloist
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

s as trumpeters Charly Tabor, Werner Gutterer, Manfred Moch
Manfred Moch
Manfred Moch was a German trumpet player. He made a name for himself in the 1960s as the featured solo trumpet player for the Bert Kaempfert orchestra, contributing memorable and melodic solos to many of Kaempfert’s hits; such songs included “Bye Bye Blues”, “Strangers In The Night”, “L-O-V-E” and...

 and Ack van Rooyen, trombonists Ake Persson
Åke Persson
Åke Persson was a Swedish bebop jazz trombonist.Persson, known as "the Comet", moved from southern Sweden to Stockholm in 1951, where he played in Simon Brehm's quintet...

 and Jiggs Whigham
Jiggs Whigham
Jiggs Whigham is an American jazz trombonist living in Europe.Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he began his professional career at age 17, joining the Glenn Miller/Ray Mckinley orchestra in 1961...

, and sax/flute player Herb Geller
Herb Geller
Herb Geller , is an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger.His musical abilities could have been inherited from his mother, Francis. She worked at the Hollywood neighbourhood cinemas playing piano, accompanying silent movies...

. Drummer Rolf Ahrens supplied the characteristically simple but steady beat, often playing just a snare drum with brushes.

Another contributor to Kaempfert's music was guitarist/bassist Ladislav "Ladi" Geisler
Ladi Geisler
Ladislav "Ladi" Geisler was a Czech musician who established a high profile in the post-war German music scene. Best known for his work with German pop musicians Bert Kaempfert, James Last and Freddy Quinn, Geisler developed the distinctive “Knack-Bass” percussive bass sound that helped...

, who popularized the famous "knackbass" (crackling bass) sound, using the Fender Telecaster Bass Guitar, which became the most distinctive feature of many Kaempfert recordings - a treble staccato bass guitar sound in which the bass string was plucked with a pick and immediately suppressed to cancel out any sustain. It was Geisler who lent his guitar amplifier to The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 for their recording session with Tony Sheridan
Tony Sheridan
Tony Sheridan , is an English rock and roll singer-songwriter and guitarist...

, after the band's own equipment proved to be inadequate for recording purposes.

Influence

  • Kaempfert is both sampled and referenced in the hit song "One Week" by the Barenaked Ladies
    Barenaked Ladies
    Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...

    . A lyric in that song states that "Bert Kaempfert's got the mad hits."
  • Jimi Hendrix
    Jimi Hendrix
    James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...

     included the melody of "Strangers in the Night
    Strangers in the Night
    "Strangers in the Night" is a popular song composed by Bert Kaempfert with English lyrics by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder. It was originally created under the title Beddy Bye as part of the instrumental score for the movie A Man Could Get Killed...

    " in his improvised guitar solo for his famous guitar-burning version of "Wild Thing" at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival
    Monterey Pop Festival
    The Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...

    .

U.S. Singles

  • "Wonderland By Night" ( US # 1, 1961 }
  • "A Swingin' Safari
    A Swingin' Safari
    A Swingin' Safari is an instrumental composed by Bert Kaempfert in 1962. It was recorded by Kaempfert on Polydor Records and released in the United States on Decca Records. It was also recorded by Billy Vaughn whose version became a bigger hit in the U.S. where it reached #13 on the Billboard...

    " (1962)
  • "Afrikaan Beat" (1962)
  • "Livin' it Up" (1963)
  • "Holiday For Bells"
  • "Hold Me" { AC # 37, 1967 }
  • "Talk" { AC # 39, 1967 )
  • "Caravan" { AC # 10, 1968 }
  • "The First Waltz" { AC # 30, 1968 }
  • "Mister Sandman" ( AC # 12, 1968 }
  • "(You Are) My Way Of Life" { AC # 17, 1968 }
  • "Games People Play" { AC # 30, 1969 }
  • "The Maltese Melody" (1969)
  • "Someday We'll Be Together" { AC # 27, 1970 }
  • "Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good)" AC # 24, 1971
  • "Love Theme" (1970)
  • "Only A Fool (Would Lose You)" (1972)

Albums

  • April In Portugal (1958)
  • Ssh! It's Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra (1959)
  • Combo Capers (1960)
  • Wonderland by Night (1960)
  • The Wonderland of Bert Kaempfert (1961)
  • Dancing In Wonderland (1961)
  • Solitude (1962)
  • Afrikaan Beat And Other Favorites (1962)
  • With A Sound In My Heart (1962)
  • A Swingin' Safari
    A Swingin' Safari
    A Swingin' Safari is an instrumental composed by Bert Kaempfert in 1962. It was recorded by Kaempfert on Polydor Records and released in the United States on Decca Records. It was also recorded by Billy Vaughn whose version became a bigger hit in the U.S. where it reached #13 on the Billboard...

    (1962)
  • That Happy Feeling (1962)
  • 90 Minuten nach Mitternacht (1962)
  • Dreaming In Wonderland (1963)
  • Living It Up! (1963)
  • Christmastide with Kaempfert
    Christmas Wonderland
    Christmas Wonderland is an instrumental Christmas album by Bert Kaempfert and his orchestra from 1963. Originally released as Christmastide with Kaempfert, it is his only album of Christmas music.-Track listing:...

    (1963)
  • That Latin Feeling (1964)
  • Blue Midnight (1964)
  • Let's Go Bowling (1964)
  • The Magic Music of Far Away Places (1964)
  • Love Letters (1965)
  • Bye Bye Blues (1965)
  • Three O'Clock in the Morning (1965)
  • A Man Could Get Killed (1966)
  • Strangers In The Night (1966) [sung by Frank Sinatra
    Frank Sinatra
    Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

    ]
  • Greatest Hits (1966)
  • Hold Me (1967)
  • The World We Knew (1967)
  • Bert Kaempfert's Best (1967)
  • Love That Bert Kaempfert (1968)
  • My Way Of Life (1968)
  • Ivo Robic singt Kaempfert-Erfolge (with Ivo Robic, 1968)
  • Warm and Wonderful (1968)
  • One Lonely Night (1969)
  • Traces Of Love (1969)
  • The Kaempfert Touch (1970)
  • Free And Easy (1970)
  • Orange Coloured Sky (1971)
  • Bert Kaempfert Now! (1971)
  • 6 Plus 6 (1972)
  • Yesterday and Today (1973)
  • To The Good Life (1973)
  • Greatest Hits Volume 2 (1973)
  • The Most Beautiful Girl (1974)
  • Gallery (1974)
  • Live In London (1974)
  • Love Walked In (1975)
  • Forever My Love (1975)
  • Kaempfert '76 (1976)
  • Safari Swings Again (1977)
  • Tropical Sunrise (1977)
  • Swing (1978)
  • In Concert (with Sylvia Vrethammar
    Sylvia Vrethammar
    Sylvia Vrethammar , is a Swedish singer of popular music, standards and jazz. She is the daughter of Harald Vrethammar, an education official, and Britta Vrethammar, a musical education teacher, specializing in the piano...

    , 1979)(also released as a Video)
  • Smile (1979)

External links

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